37CAROLMASSAR:Whichstakeholdersshouldcorporationsbe
prioritizingrightnow:employees,communities,shareholders,
orcustomers?
ALANJOPE:We’vebeenoperatinga multistakeholder
modelforabout 10 years.Webelievethatif welookafter
ouremployeesandourcustomers,if weworryaboutsoci-
etyandtheplanet,if wetakecareofoursupplierpartners,
thenourshareholderswillbewellrewarded.
Ultimatelyyouhavetolookafterallthesestakeholders.
Butit forsurebeginswithyouremployees.Youknow,with-
outshowingauthenticcareforyouremployees,I don’tdo
anythingasthechiefexecutiveofthiscompany.It’sour
front-linepeoplewhoaremakingthegoods,whoareserv-
ingourcustomers.Sothat,forme,is whereit starts.
Doesbusinessgetharderthelongerthisgoeson?
Yes,it does.We’vegotabout150,000employeeson
payroll;about70,000ofusareoffice-basedandwork-
ingfromhome,whileanadditional50,000areinfacto-
ries.We’reveryconsciousthatforsomepeopleworking
athomeis liberatingandforothersit’sabsolutetorture.
Millionsofpeoplearenowunemployed.Howdoweteachnew
skillstoworkerswhosejobsmaynevercomeback?
Retrainingis somethingthatwe’vebeenbusywithfora
longtime.Weareactuallysteppingupourdigital-learning
activities,andpeopleunderstandthatif youhavea moment
whereyou’renotatfullcapacity,useit tosharpenyourskills.
I thinkwhatyou’regettingatis animportantquestion,
andI’mactuallyinvolvedinsomeworkwiththeUnited
Nationsoncreatingjobmarkets,particularlyforyoungpeo-
ple,toreskillandfindnewjobs.Youknow,we’reallvery
focusedonthevirusrightnow,asweshouldbe.Butthe
otherbigproblemsin theworld,thingslikeclimatechange
andinequality,arenotgoingaway.AndI trulyhopethat,
aswestarttorebuild,thatwedon’ttakeoureyeoffthat
importantwork.Thoseproblemswillhauntusunlesswe
dealwiththem—anddealwiththemquickly.
Multilateralismandglobaltradehaveliftedhundredsof
millionsofpeopleoutofpoverty.Sowefeara retreatto
nationalism.It’snotgoodfortrade.It’snotgoodforecono-
mies.Andit’scertainlynotgoodforsolvingbigtransnational
problemslikeclimatechangethatrequirecollaboration.
Howdoyounavigatethebalancebetweenprofitsanddoingthe
rightthing,especiallyinthischangedworld?
I thinkif youframetherecoveryaseconomyvs.health,it’s
a falseframing.We’vegottomanagea returntohealthand
a returntoeconomicactivity.Inthesameway,weshouldn’t
talkaboutpurposeoverprofits.Wetrulybelievethatbyposi-
tioningourbrandsondoingrealgood,byrunningoursupply
chainin a sustainableway,bybeinga responsibleemployer
andcreatinggreatopportunitiesforpeople,a byproductwill
bebetterfinancialperformance.AndI reallyhatetosetup
sometrade-offonpurposevs.profits.
Unileverhasputequalitycenterstage.Canit staythere?
[Classicsprofessor]WalterScheidelatStanfordhaswrit-
tenthattheonlysteepchangesin economicinequalitytend
tohappenafterwarsorcrises.Oneinequalitywe’refocused
onis genderinequality.Ournonexecutiveboardandmanage-
mentteamis 50/50.Butnowwehavetostartthinkingabout
ourrolein society,creatingopportunitiesforwomenthrough
ourextendedoperationsandalsothroughourbrands.Income
inequalityis alsogoingtobecomeveryapparent.I thinkthe
capitalismthat’sevolvedoverthelast 20 yearsis goingto
havetochangeintoa moreequal,distributivemodel.
Somanycompaniesarewithdrawingguidance.What’syoureco-
nomicoutlook?Andwhatareyouseeinginconsumers?
Wewithdrewourguidancebecauseit getsusedtoa false
levelofprecision.Theworldis toouncertainforthatright
now.However,therearesomethingsthatareknown.We
aregoingintoa recessionaryenvironment.Andcompanies,
ourselvesincluded,shouldbethinkingaboutvaluepropo-
sitionsandmakingsurethatcash-starvedconsumersare
abletoaccesshigh-qualityproductsatthelower-costend
ofthepricingspectrum.Andwe’rebusywiththat.
Secondly,peoplearefearful.Andsohygiene,cocooning,
thedistanceeconomy,stayingathome—thoseareallgoing
tobebigtrends.Andthere’sgoingtobea secularshiftfrom
out-of-homeconsumptionbackintoin-homeconsumption.
Howweshop,consumemedia,payforthings,andliveour
livesis onlybecomingmoredigital.Thisis goingtobean
accelerator.Themacrotrendsareveryclear.
Whichofyourbrandshaveproventobethemostresilientand
whichhavelagged?
It’snotsomuchata brandlevel,it’smoreata category
level.It won’tsurpriseyouthatwe’vegota bigbusiness
thatsuppliesrestaurantswithfood-serviceproducts;that’s
notdoingwellrightnow.Butthenthere’shandhygiene,
surfacehygiene,andparticularlyin-homeeating.Thisis
a timewhenpeopleneedtrustedbrands.Andsoactually
ourbiggest,oldestbrandsaredoingverywellrightnow.
Incrises,bigbrands,trustedbrandstendtodoquitewell.
What’sa lessonfromthisyoucansharewithotherleaders?
We’reactuallymovingawayfromscenarioplanningand
tryingtofocusonbuildingagilityandresponsivenessinto
thecompany.AndI don’tknowthatweshouldallbespend-
ingtoomuchtimelockinginparticularviewsorscenarios
forthefuture,butratherunleashingthetrappedcapacity
thatmostbigorganizationshavebylettinggoandletting
peopleclosetothemarkets,closetothefrontline,exer-
cisetheirjudgmentandtheirdecision-making.We’vedis-
covereda newresponsivenessinUnileverthatI wishwe
hadunlockedyearsago,butit’stakenthiscrisistodothat.
Doesthecrisispressureyoutochangeyourwaysatall?
Ourcompanyis guidedbythreedeeplyheldbeliefs:that
brandswithpurposegrow,companieswithpurposelast,and
peoplewithpurposethrive.Andwethinkthatrefrainis going
tobeevenmorerelevantin a post-coronavirus world than in
a pre-coronavirus world. So we will not waver one iota in our
commitmenttopurpose-ledbusiness. <BW>◼ DEBRIEF Bloomberg Businessweek May 18, 2020
Edited for space and clarity.